New citizens hail from 50 countries

District Court's Judge Miller presides over ND ceremony.

District Court's Judge Miller presides over ND ceremony.

September 13, 2008|JOSEPH DITS Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- In this nation, the hot debate over immigration goes to one place, Mexico, so much that other, more distant borders seem like rubbed-out pencil lines on a map. Until you behold the 195 people who stood Friday, lifted one hand each and recited an oath. "You stood as people from 50 countries and five continents," U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Miller Jr. told the immigrants who were just naturalized in Washington Hall at the University of Notre Dame. "You sit as citizens." Dr. Jolanta Lapatniuk, 40, left her native Poland because -- with a new medical degree in her hand -- she couldn't find a job as a doctor. "Overproduction of doctors," she explains. After selling pharmaceuticals in Poland, she came to the United States, gained her medical license, became a family physician in St. John, Ind., and married someone who is half Polish, half Mexican. Ring Aguek, 42, took his wife and three children and left their home in southern Sudan, driven out by a dangerous civil war, and arrived in this country on April 8, 2003. (He's counting the days.) He came to South Bend, led here only by the system that settles refugees. He heard the city's name and thought, "South -- I'm from the South. That's good." Two months later, he started working custodial jobs at Notre Dame and has been there ever since. And of course there's Francisca Ramirez, 57, originally from Mexico City, now in Hammond. She came on a visa in 1969, then stayed too long. She gained a Social Security card right away. "At that time, they didn't ask for anything," she says, adding that it's a tougher process now. "That was a long time ago." An amnesty in the 1980s let her become a legal permanent resident. The forklift driver didn't think of going for citizenship until this year, when her daughter kept saying, "You gotta make yourself a citizen." A 1986 graduate of Notre Dame's law school spoke to them. Sure, no surprise, but this alum directs the federal agency that runs the process by which these 195 became citizens: the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. (Not to be confused with the agency that patrols borders and does immigration raids.) Jonathan "Jock" Scharfen spoke of Notre Dame's first immigrant, the Rev. Edward Sorin, of France, who endured hard winters and fires to found the university. He described Sorin: "Perseverance. Hard work. Vision. Willingness to sacrifice. Immigrants to America possess these same admirable traits." As he spoke, a new poster was unveiled featuring Norwegian immigrant Knute Rockne, the legendary Notre Dame coach. The USCIS will use this as part of a series of posters telling immigrant tales. At the end, the new citizens exited Washington Hall's front door, greeted with a chance to use one of their new rights. There, volunteers huddled under umbrellas to keep their papers and pens dry and beckoned: "Register to vote."Staff writer Joseph Dits: jdits@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6158